Duterte, saying he was “not a fan” of the United States, vowed Saturday to steer an independent course for the nation.
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He added that the Philippines remains committed to its military agreements with the US, such as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) and the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Duterte has launched a major escalation in the war on terrorists, primarily against the Abu Sayyaf, originally spawned from the Afghansi fighters trained by the U.S.to fight the Russians in Afghanistan.
Further evidence of Duterte’s approach came in an address to civil servants Monday as the president called for USA military advisers to be withdrawn from Southern Mindanao where Philippine troops have been battling Muslim insurgents. “They have to go”.
Mr Duterte said the U.S. presence had angered Muslim militants in the region and Americans would constantly be in danger if they made a decision to stay.
Meanwhile, Mr Duterte also insisted that he snubbed U.S. president Obama, and not the other way around.
The Philippines has had close ties with the USA for decades, most recently bolstering military cooperation through a 2014 pact.
Washington deployed special forces soldiers to Mindanao in 2002 to train and advise Philippine units fighting Abu Sayyaf militants in a program that once involved 1,200 Americans.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Duterte’s comments reflected the government’s “new direction toward coursing an independent foreign policy”.
“A considerable segment of the population in the Philippines does not want to see foreign troops, including U.S. troops, in the Philippines”, Chang said.
The United States’ relationship with the Philippines has been on somewhat rocky footing since June, when Rodrigo Duterte became president. “Americans, they (insurgents) will really kill them”. The reason is not (that) I do not like the Americans. Duterte’s comments suggest that he might be blaming the US for marked increases in tension in the South China Sea.
“I purposely did not attend the bilateral talks between ASEAN countries and the president of the United States”, Duterte said in a speech to police and military personnel.
Duterte has also hit out at the United Nations, calling the worldwide organisation a “son of a whore” and saying he would unilaterally withdraw the Philippines from the UN.
Another US official reiterated that there were only a handful of special forces in Mindanao limited to liaison roles.
At the summit of Asian leaders last week in Laos, Duterte also referred to the killings during the colonial period, veering off his prepared speech focused on the South China Sea.
“National security professionals that I am in contact with are agog with the behaviour of a treaty ally”, Abuza told AFP.
Duterte said he wanted the US forces to leave Mindanao because they might be targeted by the kidnap-for-ransom groups.
He even denied any change in the country’s foreign policy with the USA, adding that Duterte was only trying to save the lives of the Americans who could be targeted by Islamist groups such as Abu Sayyaf.
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However, the two met days later, with the Filipino president saying on September 9 that the insult was not directed against his U.S. counterpart.
